Friday, June 12, 2009

Friday NASCAR And ARCA TV

Lots of diverse programming from both SPEED and ESPN2 on Friday. NASCAR practice, qualifying and even an ARCA race thrown-in for good measure.

The complete schedule of events is listed on the right side of the TDP mainpage. The highlight of the day is Cup qualifying hosted by Steve Byrnes and then the ARCA race with Rick Allen and Phil Parsons.

ESPN manages to sneak-in a Nationwide practice session after Nicole Manske hosts NASCAR Now at 6PM. Jerry Punch will be joined by Rusty Wallace and Andy Petree for that session.

Once the day sessions and races are done, don't forget that NASCAR's unofficial mayor, Jeff Burton, will be a guest on Trackside at 8PM on SPEED. It should be interesting to see what issues in the news Burton chooses to address with his usually interesting comments.

This post will serve to host your TV-related comments about SPEED and ESPN on Friday. To add your opinion, just click on the comments button below. This is a family-friendly website, please keep that in mind when posting. Thanks for stopping by.

I usually expect my weekend coverage to be centered around the racing events and the weekday coverage to be centered on news developments. I don't fully expect these issues to come up on the weekend, and part of me doesn't really want them to. When I tune in to the Nationwide race, I really just want to see info about the teams and cars on the track. News about suspensions, the drug policy, or other issues I would just prefer they save for NASCAR Now. My weekend is my time to relax, and I just want to see racing. I can save my news for another time. Just my perspective.

Well, if it's anything like the other stand-alone Nationwide events this year, we know what to expect from ESPN2's coverage of practice. "Instead of showing you cars making laps on the track, we thought we'd show you something more interesting......we labeled the broadcast 'Nationwide practice', but we know you don't want to see the cars on the track practicing."

In my opinion the Speed crew did a great job and had their best qualifying show of the year, but for one big flaw.

I absolutely applaud them for using the Tivo style format. It was a tremendous decision to sacrifice pre-empting that yawner of a Tradin' Paint replacement to let us see every run in its entirety.

I thought they did a great job getting as many interviews as possible without interfering with the on-track action. I very much appreciated the extra effort to give guys like Ragan, Robby Gordon, Andretti, and tons of go-or-go-homers much needed TV time. It was also a tremendous job by the director to make sure to keep the qualifying race cars split-screened with the interviews so we could see the session in its entirety.

The only area they came short in was the position tracker. The lack of the green "lock in" dot was very glaring to me. This production truck got very lucky that there was only one DNQ and the first go-or-go-homer qualified in last place - which made it possible for us to follow the 'position to beat' battle on our own since we knew the bubble spot was always dead last on the tracker, but they're probably not going to get that lucky ever again. The green dot is a critical qualifying coverage element, and if they leave it out at Sonoma they are asking for big big trouble, in my opinion.

I sure hope we actually get a chance to see Nationwide practice on TV this weekend. I see we already have one practice blackout today thanks to ESPN. Let's hope they don't manage to black out the on-track action during the session they actually deem worthy of TV coverage as well.

Rusty did bring up the situation with the 62 car and Rusty did say he didn't believe that the crew chief said what was alleged to have said. But he did say that Marc Davis' father called and said he wants to get the crew chief back on the track asap. They did replay the incident on pit road, btw.

I love Schrader's commentating in an ARCA race, but Ryan was a nice change of pace. As I expected, he didn't seem to excited (never shows much excitement really) but showed a lot of knowledge of what was going on and when Rick and Phil called upon him for insight, he delivered.

@ darbar,

Can you elaborate on the Marc Davis' father trying to get Gaughan's CC back to the track? Not sure if I'm reading it right or what.

If the reports are correct and Marc's dad is in support of the CC getting back to work, I applaud him. This will surely mend a lot of fences and show how much class he has.

This whole thing has been spun out of control. The idea that you ban an employee for a one time alleged bad comment, is ridiculous.

I see how many blacks are supporting Chris Brown who beat (allegedly) his girlfriend's face to a pulp. And just as much support for Michael Vick, an ex-felon who beat/killed dogs for laughs, Santonio Holmes, who beat the daylights of his girlfriend, and then is voted MVP of Super Bowl.

If we take a deep breath, what this CC did surely does not rise to the level of the guys above.

I'm surprised and pleased that the ESPN crew discussed the subject forthrightly. I thought they'd find a way to avoid it as usual. Maybe ESPN _is_ turning back into a channel noted for its good reporting....

Rusty's NN interview and his comments I just read online are really, really strange IMO. Basically saying "My guy says he didn't say it and I have to back my guy".

Yet Rusty's not appealing the ruling? Even though he says his CC really doesn't want to go to sensitivity training because he feels he didn't do anything wrong? If you're going to back the guy, back him all the way, Rusty. Something there is just fishy and I don't appreciate the way Rusty is handling it.

Rusty is hinting that NASCAR made an example out of his guy even when he didn't do anything wrong, and Rusty is putting on the "poor me, I just have to go along with it because I'm a loyal soldier" act.

Which is ludicrous. Why, why, why would NASCAR want "Racial Slur Uttered at NASCAR's Only Active Black Driver" splashed all over the news last night and today? Wouldn't that be something NASCAR would avoid if they could help it? It doesn't matter that NASCAR suspended the CC - all the general public hears is "Racial Slur, NASCAR". NASCAR may do some idiotic things sometimes, but no way they invite that publicity if they can avoid it.

Rusty is the one -and the only one so far - saying Davis's father wants the crew chief back at work and apologized and all of that; I didn't get that in either of Davis' father's statements, either yesterday or on NN.

This is on scenedaily.com: "“It sounds like everybody’s a little trigger happy,” Wallace said. “I think everybody at NASCAR got a little trigger happy because this is an issue that nobody wants to tolerate. We’ll go through the motions; we’ll do whatever it takes to get Bryan back in.”

Wallace said he hopes the suspension lasts two weeks at the most and that NASCAR President Mike Helton told him his goal is to get Berry back as soon as possible.

NASCAR suspends the guy yesterday but Rusty says Mike Helton told him he'll be back ASAP? As if! So basically Rusty is talking out of his you-know-what. As usual. His "we'll go through the motions" chatter wasn't very appealing either.

Thought ESPN was solid with the presentation of practice. They showed action on the track, interviewed some drivers, and discussed issues. Seems like tomorrow is going to be all about the young guns though.

Id like to see a Kenny Wallace interview since he did lead some laps last week and had a great run going until he got trapped under that caution. Morgan too.

I definitely enjoyed the ARCA race and Ryan's presence in the booth was great. I know that he is always really low key, but like Ricky Craven, extremely knowledgeable and that is great. I think because there were no super stars to pamper it was a much better broadcast and a fun race to watch.

Ya know what? Forget the suspension, bring Berry back. Nascar might as well because they are sending mixed messages & are not serious about addressing racism in the sport.

I was going to applaud Nascar for suspending Berry, & kudos anyway to those who reported him & the various media for covering this. I thank them for doing the right thing to try to make things better in the sport. But then you have Rusty Wallace saying that Mike Helton said their goal is to have Berry back ASAP. WTF?? This is why real change is not going to happen in Nascar-you have ppl at the top who are upholding wrongdoing. Berry should be fired, & in other reputable business, he would be.

Disappointed @ Rusty Wallace. Says his problem is that he believes this is all hearsay. If he really wanted to find out the truth, have Nascar/ESPN, show him the footage, they have cameras & mics everywhere. Also, why would those witnesses lie? Taking a stand on stuff like this isn't just about Marc, but other diverse drivers as well. How would he like it if his niece Chrissy had a run in on the track & someone called her out of her name, like "the b word" or "the c word" (& I'm not talking about "cracker"). Would he like it if the other team owner's attitude was, "Well, I didn't hear it so I gotta back up my guy." Would that be acceptable? There's a difference between words of anger & words of hate.

I'm also diappointed at Mr. Davis, Marc's dad. Why would he apologize to a team that insulted him, his son, AND his sponsor? Unfortunately, it seems like Mr. Davis' attitude is, "go along to get along". Marc could use his position to be a real trailblazer but I don't think they choose to do so. Seems like they don't want to "rock the boat" which is an insult to those who have come before him or who hope to come after him. We don't need apologists, we need ppl who are going to stand up against this stuff. I'm not mad at Marc-he's a young man who I hope 1 day will come into his own. I still wish them the best, but unfortunately, I don't agree with their stance & they are not my idea of what a role model/symbol of hope in this sport should be.

Btw, I wonder what's the REAL story behind Marc not having sponsorship now-he was slated for 4more races. I wonder did what Gaughan & Berry said cost him his sponsorship. Shame on Mike Helton, Rusty Wallace, Marianne Austin, & the like for upholding wrong doing.

To Jdh417 who thinks this incident could make Marc be seen as a "pariah", don't get it twisted. In other words, it's Marc 's fault because Gaughan & Berry don't know how to control themselves. For you to think it's ok for athletes, etc.to take abuse & disrepect & not say anything is in Gaughan's words, asinine. In 2009 no athlete of color or otherwise should have to endure that just to have "respect". I would not want to be respected by ppl like that & Hank Aaron is not my hero for that. We're in the same metro area & I have little respect for him.

Here's an idea; if Rusty was serious about doing the right thing, let Gaughan sit out a few races so he can take some time off to learn how to control himself, & let Marc drive his car a few races. Can't be done, right? I'll be contacting his sponsors anyway & let them know I'm not happy w/the actions of RWI.

Once again, I encourage those who are fed up w/this type of stuff to write, email, make phone calls, etc. There are still individuals in Nascar who uphold this type of behavior & there's a desperate need for real change. Some of the comments that have been made by various posters on various sites & this editor's own attitude signifies this.